Promoting a pro-poor approach to Aid for Trade

CUTS believes that in order for Aid for Trade to effectively promote development and poverty reduction specific interventions need to be designed to target the poorest and most vulnerable producers and the sectors on which their livelihoods depend. Or as Gideon Rabinowitz, Centre Manager for CUTS LRC says, “we cannot just aim to promote trade expansion and expect that the poorest will automatically benefit as well; these groups face specific needs which require targeted support”.

CUTS LRC has therefore been working to gather perspectives from its affiliates and civil society partners across Africa and Asia on how Aid for Trade can contribute to poverty reduction, and to communicate these perspectives to ongoing policy debates on Aid for Trade in Europe.

In recent weeks CUTS LRC has been invited to share its perspectives on Aid for Trade at a workshop organised by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in the UK and at a roundtable organised by David Martin MEP at the European Parliament.

ODI workshop – AfT, one year on

This workshop brought together some of the key figures who have been involved with launching and shaping the Aid for Trade agenda to discuss the progress that has been made on aid for Trade in the last year and to explore where we go next.

Speakers included: Ambassador Don Stephenson, chair of the Integrated Framework Task Force; Shelia Page, Senior Fellow, ODI; Susan Prowse, DFID.

The discussions focussed on the challenge of mobilising sufficient resources for AfT; how to respond to regional AfT priorities; how to involve the private sector in AfT discussions; and how to improve the identification of AfT priorities.

In his presentation Gideon Rabinowitz of CUTS LRC emphasised how significant work that still needs to be done to explore the ways in which trade can best be utilised as a tool for development, and that AfT needs to be informed by these perspectives. He illustrated this point by referring to diagnostic studies produced by the Integrated Framework for Trade Related Assistance, which takes a technocratic and narrow approach to trade.

European Parliament roundtable – EU Strategy

EU member states are in the process of developing a joint strategy for responding to the Aid for Trade agenda. This joint strategy will provide guidance on how the EU will scale up its support, deliver this support and identify priorities.

This roundtable was organised by David Martin MEP, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Aid Trade, to feed into the development of the EU strategy.

Speakers included Mark Pearson, Regional Trade Facilitation Programme Southern Africa; Evita Shmeig, German Development Ministry; representatives from the European Commission (DG Trade and DG Dev).

In his presentation Gideon Rabinowitz of CUTS LRC emphasised the importance of the EU member states proactively consulting stakeholders from across the developing world about how Aid for Trade can best promote development and poverty reduction. He suggested that as has happened with dialogue on poverty in recent years, we need to invest heavily in building the capacity of the poorest to lead our response to trade development.

CUTS LRC

London 22.06.2007